If you read my previous posts, you would know that i have been suffering chronic fatigue for a long time with some additional problems but fatigue is the main thing (I am 22 male). I had so many blood tests and everything came back normal. So after a thorough research and spending so many hours on computer, i saw someone suggesting the fatigue could be related to adrenal insufficiency and to do a 9AM cortisol test. I did the test privately and got my result the same day today (455 nmol/L). I would really appreciate if anyone can interpret the result for me please? I will put whatever is writter on the result paper, down here.

"Cortisol - 455 nmol/L

Please note new reference range from 24/9/15 using the Roche Gen II assay

Results of >200 nmol/L average 26% lower than previous method

Reference range only applies to samples taken between 0600 - 1000 am only

Reference range: 172 - 497 nmol/L"

The above written is what's on the result paper. Any help is appreciated.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

Thank you so much for your response. Yes, I was severely deficient in Vitamin D and also low folate around end of May and was given high dose Vitamin D3 tablet for a week and also 1 month supply of folate tablet, after a month and some time in July i had another blood test and it showed by Vitamin D and folate to be increased and in normal range. However, its been more than 6 months now and i have not been taking both of these tablet as my gp said i wouldn't need them, so now after 6 months, i feel lethargic and same as before so I asked my GP for another blood test to check my Vitamin D, B12 and folate level and I am expecting my results next week. Who knows if my levels have dropped back? Do you think i need constant vitamin D3 and folate to maintain my levels?

No, i have never tried it but when i had my private cortisol blood test, the doctor there suggested me, i could have celiac disease and told me to maybe try a gluten-free diet, but i didn't take it seriously as i did not know a simple diet change could have any effect on my body but i have done so much research on this disease and it lists all the symptoms i have (fatigue, memory loss, brain fog, anxiety, hairloss, mouth ulcers etc). I am someone who eats a lot of gluten through various food, so i can't completely ignore your suggestion. I am going to go on a gluten-free diet and see if any change occurs. Thanks for your response!

Remotheboss, Adrenals are always a tricky area, because the NHS guidelines do not acknowledge the existence of adrenal fatigue. The test you've taken is really only to check for the very extreme condition of Addison's disease. This is where your adrenals have pretty much stopped working and quickly leads to coma. Only a handful of people on this forum have ever had a positive test for it, and it is a condition you can be treated for in the NHS.

When people talk about exhausted adrenals or adrenal fatigue, this is something not acknowledged by the NHS, so you must self treat or find a private doctor who will perform it. This is tested with the 24-hour saliva test. Stop the Thyroid Madness website is a good place to start to read about the test and how to interpret it.

Personally, I had a slightly high out of range result from the blood test, but with the 24 hour test it turned out I had a very high morning result, but was very very low the whole rest of the day. So the single result was quite misleading.

I don't rely know, because I've only had low. I took adrenal extract (nutri adrenal) and a few other things to help with it. There is lots on the forums about treating adrenals, though. You can either do a search or start your own thread and people will give you a lot of info.

This all seems like my own story..been struggling from last 2 years with severe fatigue.On blood tests I get repeatedly low in Vit D and Folate and ESR is raised everytime. Now from few months I am getting hypoglycemic symptoms and doctor has requested 9am Cortisol. Just wondering if that would be enough to fit the criteria as you mentioned aboutAdrenal fatigue .

Can you advise where can I do private test for salivary cortisol levels?

KN12, It sounds like your doctor is not treating your low vit D and folate. Both of these could be causing fatigue. What you should be seeing if the treatment is going well is that your levels consistently raise over repeat tests. It can take a year or more to get levels up to good levels.

For vitamin D all you need is a good quality supplement. The NHS will often give very low doses, you need several thousand international units per day, if not tens of thousands to start with. I've known the NHS give less than 1000 per day. You'll never get an increase with those low levels. Get a supplement that includes vitamin K, as it helps your body use it.

Folate I don't know as much about, but you will find advice on the forum about it. or start your own thread and members will give you advice.

Doctors tend to under play vitamins, not treat them well, and not understand how ill you can be if they're low. Also they don't understand that you need good, optimal levels, which means around halfway up the range. If a doctor tells you your levels are low, you know they're very very bad.

It looks like you're on a vitamin D dose of under 1000 international units per day. This is a Mickey mouse dose that will never raise your levels.. I'm not an expert, but you will find good advice elsewhere in the forum. You need something like 20,000 per day, or even more for several weeks. Once your levels are good - which means close to the top of the range - you will need to stay on 2000-ish as a maintenance dose, probably forever. This is something you can actually get better from, just doctors are rubbish on nutrition and vitamins.

You can find details of mail order, finger prick tests on the ThyroidUK website. I use Blue Horizon and am very happy with the service, but Medichecks has just started getting popular on the forum and may work out a better deal.

You are seriously deficient in Vitamin D, as the NHS range goes down very very low. Once you get on good supplements you will likely feel a lot better quite soon. Yes, your adrenals are low and worth treating, too. It is a bit fiddly to do so, but there is advice throughout the forums.

What's your doctor planning to do about the low cortisol ? My 17 yo son has similar symptoms especially hair loss, fatigue, weight loss, he had folate deficiency and treated for 3 months, had bottom of the range B12, they don't test vitamin D, last week his 9am cortisol was 317, haven't a clue if it's optimal or not.